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Mission Statement

Elephant Nature Foundation is a non-profit organization which advocates and acts on behalf of the rights of Asian elephants in Thailand.

Description

There are over 300 elephants registered in the Surin province and the vast majority of them are trapped in the unfortunate trade of street begging. This is a terrible life for elephants who require thousands of pounds of fresh vegetables and clean water daily. Street begging reduces an elephant's life expectancy by at least 50%. Despite differences in opinion on other matters, all elephant conservation organizations agree that street begging is wrong.

The goal of the Surin Project is to establish sustainably managed elephant tourism as an alternative to both street begging and to other forms of tourism, such as circuses and elephant rides. Families of elephants will roam freely in natural habitat and their mahouts will be provided with a steady income. This income will supplement some of the money that the mahouts previously made street begging with their elephant, thereby encouraging them to stay at the park.